Woman dies in front of relatives on plane

A PLANE had to make an unscheduled stop at a Spanish airport after a British woman died on board.

Paula Slah, 40, from Chelmsford, Essex, fell ill on an Iberia flight from Tangiers in Morocco to Madrid.

She died in front of her relatives as the plane landed at Seville airport after the pilot decided to alter his route and radioed ahead for medical help.

A doctor pronounced her dead on board the aircraft.

The other passengers were taken off the plane and made to wait in the terminal for a couple of hours until her body was removed.

Police have opened a routine investigation into the incident, although the death is not being treated as suspicious.

A source said: "Everything is pointing to the woman's death being the result of natural causes." The incident happened at about 3pm local time on Sunday.

An Iberia spokesman said: "The pilot took the decision to make an unscheduled landing on the advice of flight attendants. The victim fell ill during the flight.

"She was already dead by the time the plane landed and a doctor who had been placed on standby boarded."

A source said: "The victim was with family at the time and we understand more relatives are travelling to a morgue in Seville where her body has been taken prior to the post-mortem."